The win at the end oflast year got her confi-dence going. When shestarts making putts,she’s going to be reallyhard to beat.”Thompson is now playing with a fullcomplement of tools, a short game as well asthe long ball. A faulty putting stroke that onceeroded the advantage her strength providedhas largely dissipated.“I had moved really close to the ball to getmy eyes more over it to see my line,” she said.“It’s not something I’ve been used to. Even asa little kid I stood far away from the ball andtook the putter inside. So I just went rightback to that, just go where I’m most comfortable and feel Ican make the putt. I moved farther away and just take onelook at the hole and just knock it in.”The evidence is found in the scorecards. Thompson playeda bogey-free final round of four-under 68 and made only onebogey over the final 55 holes of a major championship.

“I’ve seen her in this mode before where her irons are thatgood, but it was definitely dialed in,” her father said. “It’s beengood for a few weeks now. This is good timing. I knew this weekwas going to be a good week because she was playing well. Shewas hitting it so good. She was in a good place mentally too.”Wie, meanwhile, might need to consult a map to find thatgood place after this latest disappointment, though she tooksolace in finishing second, indicative of improvement. “Ithink it’s a sign. I think I’m getting close,” she said.Close is not a new development in the Wie saga. A decadeearlier, at 14, she finished fourth in the Kraft Nabisco. Twoyears later she was T- 3. From ages 13 through 16, she finishedin the top five in half of the 12 majors in which she played.Meanwhile, from age 17 heading into the Kraft Nabiscolast week, she had played in 24 majors without a single top-five finish, while missing five cuts and withdrawing twice.She also hasn’t won a tournament for the better part of fouryears. The obvious conclusion, then, was that she was a bet-ter player before her 17th birthday than she has been after it.Only her popularity has remained consistently strong. Abillboard promoting the Kraft Nabisco, alongside Interstate10 near the western entrance to the Coachella Valley, fea-tured her image, and she delivered on the billing by sharingthe 54-hole lead with Thompson.

Sunday’s marquee was further buttressed by the penultimate pairing of Se Ri Pak and Charley Hull, one a Hall of
Famer, the other an 18-year-old upstart from England who
enchanted legions with her demeanor and performance in
the Solheim Cup last summer. They were tied for third, two
strokes in arrears, but neither rose to the challenge. Pak
closed with a 74, Hull with a 76.

So it was largely match play on Sunday, featuring dual power
hitters, though Wie curiously opted to use a popgun against
Thompson’s howitzer, often spotting her a 30-yard advantage
off the tee. “I stuck with my game plan,” Wie said, “and I think

Closing scenes:

After outduel
Wie (above rig
Thompson go
from the fans
made the cele
jump into Pop
Pond (left).